Control device for machines operating on continuous webs



N 1965 M. VAN DE GENT CONTROL DEVICE FOR MACHINES OPERATING ON CONTINUOUS WEBS Filed April 25, 1963 United States Patent Ofi ice CONTROL DEVICE FOR MACHINES OPERATING N CONTTNUOUS WEBS Maurice van de Gent, Meise, Brabant, Belgium, assignor to Placma A.G., Zug, Switzerland Filed Apr. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 275,647 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 26, 1962, 5,034/ 62 2 Claims. (Cl. 83-354) This invention relates to a control device in or for machines for effecting at least one operation at equidistantly spaced places of a continuous web while this web is being advanced longitudinally at a speed which is adjustable by means of an adjusting member, a timing element for the said at least one operation being actuated in response to the advancement of the said web.

In control devices of this kind a certain time elapses from the instant at which the said timing element is actuated, to the instant at which the operation to be effected on the web is actually effected, this time being tolerably constant with a given machine and control device. However, during that time the said web travels a distance which is proportional to its speed of advancement; thus, if the timing element is actuated each time the web has travelled a predetermined distance, the said at least one operation will be effected at places of the web which vary in accordance with the speed of advancement of the web. If the operation is to be effected not only at places equidistantly spaced lengthwise of the Web but also at definite places of the web regardless of the speed of advancement thereof, such a variation of the places at which the operation is effected actually is not permissible.

The control device of the present invention is particularly applicable to machines for printing, cutting, punching, stamping, folding, gluing or other located operations on paper, cardboard, foils of metal or synthetic resin, etc. in the manufacture of printed or cardboard articles, packages and the like.

In the accompanying drawing, an embodiment of the invention is shown schematically, by way of example only.

Merely for the purpose of illustration, it will be assumed that this control device is for a cross-cutting machine used for cutting paper which is fed through the machine in the form of a continuous web bearing a printed pattern repeating itself at equidistant places. The purpose of the control device is to cause the cutting mechanism of the machine to be actuated in such manner that the web is cross-cut at places properly adjusted with reference to the location of the recurring printed pattern.

In that drawing, the reference numeral 1 indicates the driving shaft of the machine. This shaft primarily serves for driving a device, for continuously advancing the web of paper 29; this device may comprise, for example, a pair of cooperating rollers 30, 31 through the nip of which the web of paper 29 runs the roller 30being keyed to the shaft 1. Thus, the path through which the web of paper 29 moves is proportional to the angle of rotation of shaft 1.

This shaft 1 is driven by an electromotor 2 by means of a cone belt 3 which runs over a pulley 4 having a variable effective diameter, that is, the cone belt contacts the surfaces of two cones facing each other, one of which is axially displaceable on the shaft 5 of the electromotor 2 and is urged towards the other cone by a spring not shown in the drawing.

The electromotor 2 is mounted on a support 6 which is slidable on the frame 7 (partly shown) of the machine to the right and to the left by means of an adjusting handwheel 3 and spindle 9. If the support 6 is moved to the right, the force exerted on the belt 3 increases, and the belt forces the movable cone away from the other cone of Patented Nov. 23, 1965 the pulley 4 whereby the mean radius of the annular conical surfaces at which the belt 3 contacts the cones of the pulley 4 is decreased.

The cone belt 3 also runs over a pulley 10 of fixed diameter which is keyed to the driving shaft 1 of the machine. By means of the handwheel 8 it is therefore possible to vary and adjust the ratio between the mean contact diameters of the cone belt 3 on the pulleys 4 and 10, the speed ratio between the electrometer shaft 5 and the driving shaft 1, and consequently, while the speed of the electromotor 2 remains constant to adjust the angular speed of the driving shaft 1 and the speed of advancement of the paper web.

For actuating the cross-cutting mechanism in response to the advancement of the paper web, the driving shaft 1 carries a cam 11.

The driving shaft 1 also drives the said cross-cutting mechanism (shown diagrammatically in the drawing at 32). It does so through a one-revolution clutch of wellknown construction shown diagrammatically at 33, which is engageable electro-magnetically when energized through a circuit 34 from a source of current 35, and is automatically disengaged after one full turn of its driven shaft 36. The cross-cutting mechanism 32 is constructed in such manner that on each revolution of its driving shaft, i.e., on each revolution of the driven shaft 36 of the said onerevolution clutch, it effects a cutting operation whereby a sheet 37 is severed from the web 29 and dropped on a pile 38 of similar sheets. Thereafter the cross-cutting mechanism 32 reverts to its starting position.

The engagement of the one-revolution clutch 33 is effected through the circuit 34. The latter comprises a microswitch 13 having an arm 12 adapted to be acted upon by the cam 11 for closing the said circuit. The micro-switch 13 is mounted on a carrier disc 14 swingably supported on the driving shaft 1 and provided with an arm 15. This arm is connected by an adjustable link 16 to one arm 17 of a double-armed lever 17, 18 which a spring (not shown) tends to rotate clockwise. The opposite arm 18 of the double-armed lever 17, 18 carries a roller 19 resting on the upper surface 20 of a wedge piece 21 connected to the slidable support 6 and displaceable therewith, which surface is inclined with respect to the direction of displacement of the said support and wedge piece.

It will be noted that from the moment at which the rising portion 22 of the surface of cam 11 meets the roller on the actuating arm 12 and starts closing the micro-switch 13, to the moment at which the one-revolution clutch 33 has completed coupling the shaft 36 of the cross-cutting mechanism 32, a certain short time must elapse. With micro-switches of the same model of a certain manufacturer, it was found that for the mere closing of the electric circuit 34 by the micro-switch 13 a time was required which varied between 4 and 11 milliseconds from one switch to the other but remained practically constant for one and the same switch. If the speed at which the paper web 29 is advanced is increased by one metre per second by displacing the support 6 to the left (as seen in the drawing) by means of the handwheel 8, the places at which the paper web 29 is severed by the cross-cutting mechanism 32 therefore will be displaced by 4 to 11 millimeters to the rear. If initially the location of the cutting lines was properly placed with respect to the pattern printed on the paper, this would no longer be so after such a moderate increase in the speed of the paper, if the micro-switch 13 were mounted immovably.

However, this drawback is obviated since when the speed of the paper web is adjusted to a higher value by means of the handwheel 8, the wedge piece 21 is displaced to the left at the same time as the support 6, whereby the roller 19 is lifted and the carrier disc 14 on which the micro-switch 13 is mounted is rotated anticlockwise as seen in the drawing. Therefore, the roller on the actuating arm 12 is reached earlier by the rising portion 22 of the surface of cam 11 and the circuit of the micro-switch 13 is closed earlier than with the initial speed of the paper web 29. If the inclination of the surface 20 of the wedge piece 21 is properly chosen, the

cross-outing mechanism will be actuated early enough to ensure that the cutting is effected at accurately the same places of the paper web 29 as before the speed thereof was increased.

I claim:

1. In a machine for effecting at least one operation at equidistantly spaced points of a travelling web comprising means for advancing said Web including a driving shaft, driving means for said shaft, means for varying the angular speed of said shaft comprising a speed adjusting member, and means for effecting said at least one operation and, a control device for timing the operation of said operation-effecting means comprising a control element actuatable for causing these means to effect said at least one operation, an actuating member connected to and movable in synchronism with said web-advancing means and adapted for actuating said control element, a movable carrier for said actuating member, and a mechanism for moving said carrier relative to said actuating 4,. member in response to the position of said speed adjusting member.

2. In a machine for effecting at least one operation at equidistant places of a travelling web comprising means for advancing said web including a driving shaft, driving means for said shaft, means for varying the angular speed of said shaft comprising a speed adjusting member, further means for performing said at least one operation, a carrier rotatably mounted on said driving shaft, an actuating member operatable to cause the said further means to perform the said at least one operation, said actuating member being movably mounted on said carrier, a cam fixed on said shaft for operating said actuating member in response to the rotation of said shaft, and linking means connecting said speed adjusting member to said carrier for rotating the latter in response to displacement of the speed adjusting member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,002,374 5/1935 King 22630 2,052,255 8/1936 Shoults 226-30 3,091,987 6/1963 Wallis 83283 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, ERNEST A. FALLER,

Examiners. 

1. IN A MACHINE FOR EFFECTING AT LEAST ONE OPERATION AT EQUIDISTANTLY SPACED POINTS OF A TRAVELLING WEB COMPRISING MEANS FOR ADVANCING SAID WEB INCLUDING A DRIVING SHAFT, DRIVING MEANS FOR SAID SHAFT, MEANS FOR VARYING THE ANGULAR SPEED OF SAID SHAFT COMPRISING A SPEED ADJUSTING MEMBER, AND MEANS FOR EFFECTING SAID AT LEAST ONE OPERATION AND, A CONTROL DEVICE FOR TIMING THE OPERATION OF SAID OPERATION-EFFECTING MEANS COMPRISING A CONTROL ELEMENT ACTUATABLE FOR CAUSING THESE MEANS TO EFFECT SAID AT LEAST ONE OPERATION, AN ACTUATING MEMBER CONNECTED TO AND MOVABLE IN SYNCHRONISM WITH SAID WEB-ADVANCING MEANS AND ADAPTED FOR ACTUATING SAID CONTROL ELEMENT, A MOVABLE CARRIED FOR SAID ACTUATING MEMBER, AND A MECHANISM FOR MOVING SAID CARRIER RELATIVE TO SAID ACTUATING MEMBER IN RESPONSE TO THE POSITION OF SAID SPEED ADJUSTING MEMBER. 